Miami-Dade County joins Ford Motor Company in announcing the testing of the first self-driving vehicle business in Florida

MIAMI (February
27, 2018) —

In partnership with Miami-Dade County, Ford Motor Company announced today that it is launching its first self-driving vehicle business in South Florida. This is the first time a Ford autonomous vehicle will be tested in the state.

In addition to testing self-driving technology, Ford will conduct a variety of pilot programs with corporate partners, like Domino’s and Postmates, to research the movement of people and goods to learn more about how people respond to and interact with self-driving vehicles, and how to apply the technology to better serve customers.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the testing of Ford’s self-driving vehicles in South Florida is another way in which the County is working with the private sector to test and integrate the latest technology, which will help improve mobility today and in the years to come.

"While working to improve our transit services, my Administration is also working with companies, like Ford Motor Company, to introduce innovative technology that will redefine the future of transportation in our County," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez.

In the weeks ahead, randomly selected Domino’s customers will be able to accept pizza deliveries from a Ford Fusion Hybrid autonomous research vehicle, which will be manually driven and staffed with researchers to evaluate the customer experience of self-driving delivery.

"Mayor Gimenez and Miami-Dade County have been great partners in making our decision to choose South Florida as the first location for our self-driving vehicle business," said Sherif Marakby, vice president, Autonomous Vehicles and Electrification, Ford Motor Company. "Miami-Dade is at the forefront of thinking about innovative transportation solutions, and we look forward to working together to understand how autonomous vehicles can help improve mobility in Miami and benefit residents and businesses."

Miami-Dade County is constantly seeking innovations that improve mobility. One way is through the Smart Signals and Transit Signal Priority (TSP) controllers that are being tested on the South-Dade TransitWay. These projects are also paving the future of the County’s roadway infrastructure by making intersections capable of running applications designed for the connected and autonomous vehicle world.

Today’s press conference was held at the Island Gardens in Watson Island, with the City of Miami skyline as the backdrop - symbolizing how new initiatives, such as Ford’s autonomous vehicles pilot project, will help reshape the landscape of transportation in Miami-Dade County.

Please see here b-roll of Ford's autonomous vehicle delivery testing, and here to see Ford's self-driving car road mapping local streets. For more for information about Ford’s self-driving service, please visit Ford's site.

To learn more about innovative transportation projects in Miami-Dade County, like the new Smart Traffic signals, follow DTPW on Twitter @GoMiamiDade.

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